Sunday, July 10, 2011

The politics of lies and instability

Diallo Nafissatou (L) vs Yingluck Shinawatra (R)
What do the two of them have in common?
They are women.
And we all know that women can't be trusted.

Let's take Diallo first.
You can't help but notice that the DSK affair has crumbled around the prosecution's ears. And why? Because she lied. SHE LIED. REPEATEDLY. SINCE DAY ONE SHE LIED.
It should have been obvious since day one that she was lying - and now it has been exposed that she has, has everyone who trumpeted her "victim" status scurrying for cover (read one example here).
Cyrus Vance, the New York prosecutor in charge of the case is also under heavy critical fire for the way it was handled. To make it worse, EuroNews reports that his office has also lost two recent cases, one involving rape, the other the planning of a terrorism attack. In all honesty, anyone who assumes guilt based on hearsay should be "Nifong'd", to use the current term.
Now Diallo's is being called a "hooker", her reputation is in tatters and exposes on her being a cheat and a druggie are floating to the surface. In short, she's a crook and a thief (see this article from The Spearhead), and her credibility is fast vaporising. Not that she had much to start with!
However, since feminism championed her, lies and all, I can only say - YOU GO GRRRRL!

On the other hand we have Yingluck Shinawatra, ousted premier Thaksin's younger sister.
That she is riding on popularity's coattails is evident, as is the way she has made promises.
Whether or not she delivers them is another issue, something Thailand, in the heat of the moment appears to have forgotten. This is eerily similar to the popular support which greeted Barack Obama's election, and which started cracking a mere six months later.
She is, figuratively speaking, a political virgin and certainly not vestal. Barely a week into a premiership and she has already been accused of vote-buying (see here) and inconsistency (read this).
It will be interesting, to say the least, of watching how she handles life as the (very visible) head of Thailand once the honeymoon period is over. Barack Obama only had six months before America came to realisation that it made a very bad mistake. I give this Yingluck creature less.

I've always said it: anything headed by a woman, be it country or corporation, is destined to decay and ossify, or doomed to die a painful death. Obviously we have not learned the lessons of, say post-Kohl Germany under Angela Merkel, or the struggles of Hewlett-Packard after Carly Fiorina romped through it, or how shares have dropped ever since Janet Robinson started her tenure at the New York Times company, or ... I could go on but this post should open a few eyes.

All I can say then is, buckle up and watch the show from the side boys - it ain't gonna be pretty!
Onward!

About Me

I'm not your average Joe, quite the opposite in fact! Having no looks to speak of, I make up for it with a carefully cultivated manner and exquisite clothes. It helps that I'm a trainer in multimedia -waving your arms before a captive audience is gratifying! Now that I'm past 40, life is good, midlife crises notwithstanding!